Magic hands working magic pencils, creating magical western-themed drawings with Cretacolor Nero Pencils for her Nettie Rickerson Art business. But, that’s just one of her many magical talents. She’s also been a teacher for 23 years, currently teaching kindergarten at Lahontan Elementary School, and is a Reiki Practitioner and jewelry-maker at her own Desert Sage Reiki business located in the Fallon Family Wellness Center. Those magic hands do stay very busy.
Rickerson started drawing with pencils when she was very young, and was always obsessed with horses. “My brother is a naturally talented artist and he helped me a bit even though he was eight years older than me. I liked watching him draw, and wanted to draw like him.” At one point while in college, she had thoughts about becoming an art teacher, but “my college time was getting down to the end, and I was done. I just wanted to graduate. I did take some art classes in college, and even had an art teacher that hated everything I turned in. She wasn’t super encouraging.”
She’s been a single mom, and didn’t have much time to spend on her artistry when her sons, now 18 and 24, were growing up. One of her favorite artists is Maria D’Angelo, who is a pencil artist known for her horse drawings. Rickerson said, “She has posted a number of YouTube videos where I picked up some new styles of shading from her. She also uses the Cretacolor Nero Pencils. Using those feels like you are drawing with a pencil but you get darker, more intense colors from them because they are oil-based charcoal – and while they don’t smudge like regular charcoals, they also don’t erase.”
Rickerson likes to build her black-and-white pictures in layers. “I do a lot of layers, so I start with my outline, then block in my shading, then add in five or six layers to achieve the colors and finish I want. I’ve even starting using solvent to soften the lines, so then I can add more layers.”
Her artwork will be on display through the end of October at the Churchill County Library located at 553 South Maine Street, and this is her first show. “I was always a little shy about sharing my art. But now that I do get to spend more time on my art, about 10 to 25 hours per drawing, I’ve gotten to the point where I like my drawings enough to sell them. I’m getting better about putting myself out there.”
She’s submitted some of her originals to the online gallery of the Reno Fine Arts Collective, founded by Kevin O’Keefe and Briana Dolan, who is also their Chief Content Officer. They have a pop-up gallery going on at the Chase Bank building in downtown Reno through September, where Rickerson’s work will be displayed.
“My work is a very different style from the artwork on display at the Collective. Mine are the only pencil drawings, and I was so excited to have my work accepted there. It’s been one of my goals to be in galleries and get my name out there.” After touring the Reno pop-up gallery, Rickerson said, “I was so impressed with the work as I walked through. I’ve seen some of it online, but the pictures just don’t do this level of artwork justice. There is such a variety of mediums and styles - paintings, sculpture, woodwork, jewelry, photography, and clay pottery.”
The Collective’s next and biggest step will be the Reno Tahoe International Art Show launching next September at the Reno Convention Center, and Rickerson is hoping to have her work included there too. This show will draw interior designers, architects, and collectors from around the globe, as well as the local attendees.
Rickerson is also lined up for a show in Arizona, having submitted three drawings. The Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show and Sale will be held on Sunday, November 21, and will feature original artistic works from more than 200 artists. “This one is a jury process where a committee (the jury) determines which pieces will be chosen for inclusion in the show. Up to three pieces can be turned in, but if I can get even one accepted, that would be great.”
Rickerson would like to expand her artistry by moving into color pencils. “I love color, and other mediums. I bought color pencils and am learning to use them. It’s a process. I would also love to learn to paint, as I’ve always loved watercolors.” Rickerson’s artwork can be viewed from her Nettie Rickerson Art Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Nettie-Rickerson-Art-100886174684814/. A gallery of Rickerson’s Nero Pencil drawings can also be viewed on the Reno Fine Arts Collective website: https://www.nettie-rickerson.renofineartscollective.com/.
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